When Shen Ming returned, he took a shower and rushed towards Shen Ning, looking for her to confront him. However, Mo Lin was already waiting for him.
They subdued him in no time, gagged him, tied him up with rope, and hung him up. As for when he would be seen and let down, that was up to his luck.
Shen Ming was clearly unlucky; the place where he was hanged was too remote, and he wasn't seen by the sweeping servant until the next morning.
They were unconscious when they were rescued.
As expected, the second branch of the family was going to cause trouble for Shen Ning again. Shen Ning didn't even see them; he simply stopped them and sent them a message.
'Last night, Shen Ming offended the Empress's own brother, the Crown Prince's uncle. They can continue their troubles, but she'll go find the young imperial uncle, and the Shen family will be finished.'
Five years ago, the Shen family had not yet fallen from grace, and Shen Changlin was still a prodigal son. Shen Ming was unaware of the Little Imperial Uncle's formidable reputation, but he knew it.
He only had one son and couldn't afford to gamble, so he also held Shen Ming down and warned him not to go to Shen Ning because of this matter.
Having quelled the unrest within her own household, Shen Ning hadn't forgotten the Wei family. Madam Wei would surely feel sorry for her son and might even take her anger out on her.
In order to gain peace of mind, Shen Ning simply took a drastic measure.
Shen Shu's personal maid, Yu'er, climbed into Wei Congwen's bed, and Shen Shu caught them in the act while they were having sex.
With the Wei family bustling about, Shen Ning was finally at peace.
As for whether Shen Ning will come back crying and make a scene, that's Liang Zhuo's business. If he dares to let Shen Shu bother her again, she'll personally tie him up and send him to the Wei family.
-----
Qixi Festival, also known as Daughters' Festival, is the most beloved festival for young women.
Today we pray for blessings, worship the Weaver Girl and the Seven Star Goddess, and ask for skillful hands. We also wish to the Seven Star Goddess that we can marry a good husband.
Liu Ying and the others were busy preparing the table, while Mo Xue'er squatted to the side with Yu Zhu, studying how to paint Shen Ning's nails.
Many flowers were delivered today, and Shen Ning distributed them all. People wore flowers in their hair, dyed their nails, and made flower baskets, so everyone could dress themselves up beautifully.
After bathing, they worshipped the Seven Star Goddess together, and then each took a reward and went out to play in the streets.
The streets are busiest tonight, with parades, food, acrobatics, and various needlework competitions. Anyone with a skill can participate, regardless of social status.
There's no curfew tonight, everyone can stay out as late as they want, and there will be fireworks along the moat tonight.
Several elderly women didn't want to squeeze in with the young people, so they stayed behind to watch the house. Shen Ning then took Liu Ying and the others out to play with peace of mind. Mo Lin, of course, had to go too; he had to protect them today.
How could the Qixi Festival be complete without sisters? Of course, we had to invite Du Yunzhi along.
Li Shaobai wasn't there, but Ye Feiyan dutifully followed him around.
The two sisters strolled and played hand in hand, completely ignoring the people behind them.
I strolled from one end of the street to the other until my feet were too tired to walk anymore. I found a riverbank and sat down on the ground. In front of me was the bustling world of people, and in the sky were countless stars.
"I'm so happy!"
My body was tired, but my mind was extremely happy.
Immersed in the crowd, feeling the lively atmosphere, all the gloom in my heart was dispelled, leaving only happiness. This was the happiest and most unrestrained day of Shen Ning's life, past and present.
If only those sticky, creepy stares weren't staring at her...
Shen Ning frowned, becoming wary, but looking around, she could see nothing amidst the bustling crowd.
Intuition told her she couldn't stay there any longer, so she pulled Du Yunzhi up and said, "Let's go somewhere else."
Shen Ning booked a private room on the second floor of Fulai Teahouse, where she could see the opera troupe performing acrobatics across the street from the window.
The maids are all free to go out and play today, as long as they come back here when they're done playing.
Seeing Shen Ning staring blankly outside again, even the slow-witted Du Yunzhi could sense it.
"You look troubled. What's wrong?"
Shen Ning lowered her eyes and picked up the wine glass. The osmanthus wine was incredibly fragrant and left a pleasant aftertaste.
"Ah Zhi, how can a person find peace and stability?"
Du Yunzhi looked at her strangely: "What's wrong? What happened?"
Shen Ning smiled without saying a word, somewhat troubled, but it seemed she had figured it out herself.
Everyone has their troubles in life; the poor have their troubles, and the rich have theirs.
People with money and power live their whole lives in scheming and intrigue, and even after they die, their graves are dug up repeatedly, and their remains are never at peace.
With the Shen family's wealth in her hands and still a woman, how could she not attract the covetous eyes of wolves and tigers?
She believed that her courage and abilities were no less than those of men, but people just felt that she was easy to bully, all because she was a woman.
No matter how outstanding she is, it doesn't matter if she's a woman.
But as long as she gets married, even if her previous engagement was with a scoundrel like Wei Congwen, some people will still be wary of her.
How ridiculous, how ridiculous...
After finishing his drink, Shen Ning stood up and said, "I'm going out for a bit."
Ye Feiyan just entered, nodded slightly to Shen Ning, and walked past her toward Du Yunzhi.
Du Yunzhi was worried about Shen Ning: "Something's wrong with her. It seems like something happened, but she was fine just now."
Ye Feiyan pressed her down as she tried to get up: "If she wants to tell you, she will. If you really want to know, you can ask her when she comes back."
After saying that, he leaned down and kissed her: "Look, the juggling is about to begin."
Du Yunzhi's mind went blank for a moment, her cheeks burned, and she stared intently down below, not daring to turn her head to look at him.
The underground acrobatic performance was met with cheers from the very beginning, but Ye Feiyan didn't even glance at it. His eyes were fixed on Du Yunzhi's evasive gaze and his familiar ears.
It won't be long before he can carry the girl back to his den.
----
Shen Ning went out and casually took a wine pot from her servant's hand. She didn't drink it, but she carried the wine pot around and spilled wine on the ground as she walked, spreading a rich aroma of wine all the way.
She walked around the circular teahouse once, then went upstairs without looking back.
Behind her, malicious gazes followed her relentlessly.
However, at a corner, the hunters who had been lying in wait seized the opportunity to strike. Just as the man tried to blend into the crowd to make his move, they quickly subdued him, gagged him, and tied him up with rope. Two other men then took a sack, put it in the sack, threw it through the window into the alley, and dragged him away.
Upon discovering that his companion was missing, he assumed they had been separated by the crowd. Frustrated, he stamped his foot and continued to follow, only to follow in his companion's footsteps a short while later.
All three were low-level thugs.
In a room on the second floor of the back alley inn, Shen Ming and Du Rufeng sat drinking, seemingly calm, but in reality, they were anxious as if being scratched by a cat.
This was Du Rufeng's first time doing something so bad, and he lacked the courage.
"Brother Shen... do you think Miss Shen will really accept her fate?"
He had been tempted by Shen Ming's promises and impulsively planned today's events with him. But now that the moment had arrived, he felt increasingly uneasy and had a bad feeling.
Finally, someone burst through the door; it was a constable from Shuntian Prefecture: "Take him down!"
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